Confession
by Railynn
Summary: She has betrayed everyone she has ever known--friends and family alike--but when she betrays the very solar system that it is her duty to protect, will she choose redemption or a life with her soul mate? Finished
1. Chapter One

**I** sit here writing as the storm rages outside. The power has gone out, so I am left with only the light of the flames to see by. Flames that steadily burn down their wicks and lower the level of the wax that encases those same wicks. I have only as much time as the flames linger, for when they go out then true darkness shall envelop the universe and I shall be gone along with the others. I know it is futile to write this, in the last hours of the world, but it is the only confession I will have the chance to make, and if someone should find this, if someone should survive this cataclysm, then you will know why I must write this, and how it was my fault that this ending was brought about. Though I knew this love to be forbidden, I loved anyway, and deeply, and my friends suffered the consequences when I hesitated. Even now, I play the coward, hiding in this closet

I find that I am fascinated by the words that flow from the ink of this pen, as if I am reading a book that I have never seen before, as if I do not know what will happen next.

But I digress.

I shall start at the beginning, as all stories should, and perhaps whomever finds this will find it within themselves not to despise me too much...

* * *

I watched in the mirror as my mother brushed my long silvery-blonde locks and pulled them into the odangos that are customary for the women of our royal family. My mother herself wears her hair the same. I have always idolized the queen, my mother, and have always wanted to be just like her, but have continually found myself lacking. When she walks, she seems to glide, her every movement is elegant and graceful, whereas my movements are all-around clumsy, as if my skin doesn't fit. The one way I find myself to be adequate compared to her is in my looks, for we share the same delicate figures, the same facial features. The one difference between us physically is that she has an almost visible aura of experience and peace about her, while I am unsure of myself, wild and impulsive.

When she is finished, she strokes one of the ponytails and whispers how proud she is to have me as a daughter, that I am the moon princess. I find it difficult to believe that any mother would be proud of a klutz like myself, but I appreciate it nonetheless and smile at her. She leans down and kisses the top of my head before walking towards the door. She admonishes me not to be late for my own coming-of-age ball before she leaves my room entirely.

Be late for this night? I wouldn't dare think of it! But then, it wasn't always my fault that I'm late either. Some of the strangest things happened to me when I was on my way to things such as lessons...

I sit before the mirror a little while longer, simply telling myself that I will not make a fool of myself this night of all nights. I will be graceful, I will be witty, I will not embarrass myself in front of all the important people of the solar system.

Taking a deep breath, I stand up, slip into my heeled shoes, and walk out the door, nearly stumbling over the hem of my dress. My face burning, I gather up the front of the dress just enough that I can't trip over it, and try to make my way to the ballroom with a dignified air, trying not to quail for fear of a worse incident at the ball. At least, if there was one thing to be grateful for, it was that I could dance without error. The one place I feel as if I can be as graceful as my mother is on the dance floor, and my heartbeat quickens at the fantasy of being swept away by the music and a mysterious man who will fall in love with me and propose right there on the dance floor. My face flushes at the mere thought, and I try to hurry without tripping over myself. My feet tend to get in the way of each other when I'm not careful.

When I reach the doors, I pause to collect my composure before nodding to the announcer. He orders the great doors at the top of the staircase opened and enters before me, saying loudly, "All hail the princess Serenity!"

Everyone turns to look as I enter, and I can't help but feel a twinge of fear. This is the first time I've made an entrance without my mother, and the twinge turns into an almost crippling terror of walking down those stairs alone, watched for the slightest mistake by all the courtiers of the solar system. Some of them, I'm certain, are waiting for me to take a tumble down the long, ornately decorated staircase, and I am all too sure that I will oblige them.

Just as I am about to begin my descent, a man leaps from the balcony above and to the left side of the staircase, turning over in the air gracefully to land on one knee next to me, holding out a pure white rose for my acceptance. The guards stare dumbfounded for a moment, but when they move to seize the man, I halt them with a gesture and accept the rose. He stands up and offers me his arm, which I also very gratefully accept, and we descend together. He wears a tuxedo and top hat, but this much is all I have seen of him, and I dare not take a closer look at the moment, or I will surely fall . Besides, it can't look as though I know him not, so I shall have to wait for the right moment to examine him more closely.

One thing more I know, however, and that was that he smelled heavenly.

He escorted me to my mother, to whom I curtsied while he bowed deeply. My mother looks at me with an expression that I am positive mirrored mine–a look full of puzzlement. The stranger then turned and bowed over my hand, his lips lingering over my knuckles before he dropped to a knee and asked, "Might I have the honor of the first dance with you, my lady?" His voice was like velvet, soft and deep, making me want to melt into his arms right there, but somehow I smiled demurely and curtsied, murmuring my assent.

Mother must have motioned to the orchestra to begin playing, for a stately waltz filled the air, and in one fluid motion my mysterious stranger swept me into his arms and onto the dance floor. I looked up into the most gorgeous azure eyes I had ever seen as we danced, and I couldn't help but wonder, wasn't this just like my fantasy? I didn't even notice when other couples began to dance, my attention was solely focused on this tall and handsome stranger who had so gallantly saved me from embarrassing myself within the first minute of the party in my honor. He stared back into my eyes, a soft smile curving his perfect lips. When the waltz ended and he released me, I nearly fell. He brought the hand he held to his lips, his breath caressing it gently as he whispered, "I thank you, my princess, for allowing me this great honor. We will meet again, my love."

He whispered those last two words so softly, I couldn't help but wonder if she had imagined them. Then he bowed over my hand once more, touching his lips to my fingers, and swept away into the crowd as the dancers started up again to a new tune played by the orchestra. I stood there, unable to move for a moment before I thought to go after him, to find out his name at the very least, but he was gone, and there were people I had an obligation to dance with. It seemed as though the rest of the ball went by in a fog filled with a longing to see him again, to feel his lips on my fingers, him holding me close against his hard body as we swept across the dance floor.

Thankfully the ball was over soon enough, and I went quietly to my chambers, floating on air it seemed like, and I didn't stumble once. When I had undressed and put on my nightgown I sat once more in front of the mirror, reflecting on that dance and what he had said. I was so lost in the memory that I didn't notice when my mother came in to brush my hair before bed.

"Darling, who was that man?" she asked, snapping me out of my reverie.

"I don't know," I replied, furrowing my brow in thought.

My mother didn't say anything, she just frowned and began our nightly ritual of undoing my hair and brushing it before braiding it for the night.

Looking back, I know that my mother had her suspicions as to who my mysterious masked stranger was, but that night I went to sleep thinking only of the romance.


	2. Chapter Two

I know that soon they will come looking for me, so I try to write faster. I must tell the entire story before I am discovered! Forbidden love...but it was so sweet while it lasted...It is hard to share the memories of him because it is so painful to remember them, but you must understand that he was the other half of my soul! He was my other self! It was hard to breathe when I thought about the possibility that he wouldn't return.

But I shall continue to tell my story, and you shall have to see for yourself.

* * *

I don't remember much of the week after that memorable night, it remains clouded in a haze for me. I know that my state of mind must have greatly disturbed my mother, but at the time I couldn't find the energy to care much about it. Only him. I replayed that night over and over in my mind, my heart pounding each time I thought about those perfect lips touching my skin. I couldn't seem to take my mind off of him. My team was very distraught with me, our training sessions were filled with my blunders due to distraction. They had all seen what had happened at the ball, and while at first it had been exciting that I had a mystery love, it was now irritating.

One day, when Mars had had quite enough of my mooning, she started screaming at me. I stared at her in shock before I started screaming right back. She ended up storming away, and I never got the chance to talk to her again. At the time, of course, I didn't care because I was so infuriated with her, and that anger fueled my energy for the rest of the training exercise, much to the relief of the other senshi, I'm sure. Naturally, once my anger was burnt out, I went back into the dreamy state, and rather than argue with me, the other senshi simply left me alone. What use training when your leader was by far too distracted to concentrate?

A few more days passed, and it no longer seemed so wonderful to be in love with a mysterious stranger. Why hadn't he come back? Had I imagined the whole encounter with him? This depressed me, naturally, and my loneliness began to overtake the wonder of it all. It got so that I dreamed about him every night, and the dreams weren't always pleasant. Sometimes I would wake in the middle of the night crying, heartbroken over something the masked stranger had done. In the morning I was always grateful that my mother's quarters were nowhere near my own, for it would seem entirely too foolish to disturb her over a silly dream like those had been.

One night, when the dream had been particularly awful and I woke sobbing, I heard a tapping on my window. Thinking it was one of the senshi, I went and opened my balcony doors. Much to my surprise, there stood my masked stranger. He fluidly entered my room and pulled me into his embrace. Oh, how I had longed to be in his arms. Despite myself, a sob escaped and he held me back to look at my face.

"What's wrong, love?" he asked with that velvet voice of his, his azure eyes filled with concern.

"Why...why didn't you come back?" I asked, my voice trembling with tears. "Was it all a dream? Is this a dream?"

He pulled me close again, holding me tightly. "No, darling," he whispered. "It's not a dream, I'm really here. I would have come back sooner, but something came up."

When my shoulders shook with sobs, he hugged me tighter, resting his chin on the top of my head for a moment. He then picked me up and took two long strides to my bed where he sat down, cradling me in his lap. I had never felt so safe as I did in his arms, and the spate of tears finally ceased. I sat there comfortably for a few minutes, enjoying his presence immensely, when a thought came to me.

"How did you know what room I'd be in?" I asked. Was I mistaken, or did his cheeks darken? This question was answered when he stammered out his reply.

"Well...um...you see..."

"Never mind," I said, laughing. In the dim lights, I swear I saw his cheeks turn a shade darker.

"You have a lovely laugh, Serenity," he said quietly a few moments later.

"You have a lovely voice...what's your name? You never told me."

"Endymion," he replied, almost too softly for me to hear, though it struck me dumb nevertheless.

"You're...you're...the Earth prince?!" I exclaimed.

He nodded, his face turned away from me.

"Why do you wear the mask?" I asked.

"So no one will recognize me," he replied.

"But I know who you are now," I said softly. "Please, take it off?"

He hesitated a moment before reaching up and pushing it up from his face and off of his head. I wished dearly for a stronger light, but from what I could see he was even more handsome than he had been with the mask on. His hair was the color of midnight, long bangs brushing his eyebrows. I hadn't noticed how long his eyelashes were when he had had the mask on either. He took my breath away.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered, bringing a hand up to tentatively stroke my cheek with his thumb. When I didn't stop him, he cupped my face in his hands and just stared at me, his smoky eyes drinking in my features and staring deep into my soul as I gazed at him in return. I had never imagined that someone I barely knew could make me feel so utterly out of control just by his touch. Anything he had wanted from me I would have gladly given, even and perhaps especially my life. I never wanted him to leave me again, but I had the sinking feeling that he would leave, and he would take my heart and soul when he did.

His lips brushed mine, oh, so gently, and I couldn't help but lean into the kiss. His scent, musky and pure, intoxicated me, I wanted nothing more than to mold my body to his so we could become one flesh. The kiss had deepened, and I found myself trembling when he pulled reluctantly away. "Serenity..." he whispered raggedly.

I knew what he was about to say, and I desperately needed him not to say it, so I kissed him again, with all the passion that the first kiss had aroused, and he kissed me back, but again pulled away reluctantly, smoothly sliding himself out from under me and setting me gently on my bed. He took a step backwards, though it seemed very much against his will, and ran a hand shakily through his hair. I immediately wanted to run my fingers through the silky-looking stuff, but held my twitching hands down, resisting the urge to go to him. But oh, it was so hard. He was the other half of my soul, how could I sit there and let him leave me?

"I'm so sorry, love," he whispered, and out he went the same way he came in, leaving a deep red rose on the balcony. I had been right when I had thought that he would take my heart and soul with him when he left. I felt so empty without his warmth. Woodenly, I walked to the balcony, picked up the rose, and closed the doors behind me as I came back inside. Sitting on the side of my bed, I stared at the perfect rose for a while before laying it gently on my night stand and falling asleep staring at it.


	3. Chapter Three

When I say that I love my Prince of Earth, I mean that he made me feel...so complete. It is very difficult to describe, and though I hardly knew him I felt as if I had known him for a millennia. Yes, I was–am–young, and yes, I was and possibly still am foolish, but how could I help myself? My mysterious and dark Endymion...how could you do this? He had watched me from afar for some time, scouting me out for _her _I suppose. When I trained with my senshi, when I walked the grounds, when I slept. Were you evil all along, my love? Or was it something that _she _did to you?

But once again, I digress, and I make mention of things that have not happened in my story yet. Forgive me this small transgression amongst the far greater I have committed.

* * *

I was distraught the next day. My instructors became so frustrated with me that they threw their hands up and cancelled the lessons for the day. Of course, I hadn't seen my senshi in a few days either, nor could I find them when I went to their quarters. It seemed that they had abandoned me until I went to Mercury's room and discovered a note tacked to her door saying that they had gone to visit Venus, but if I should ever feel up to concentrating on the important task of working together with them that I should give them a beep on the wrist communicators.

This left me feeling despondent, being scolded so by Mercury, the calmest of us all, and I wandered aimlessly through the palace, in a self-pitying fog. It was just as well that my mother was in state meetings all day, or she might have worried greatly about my state of mind.

Somehow, I found myself at the entrance of the hedge maze in the palace gardens. Thinking that no one would likely be in there this time of day, I entered and followed the path to the center. The maze was in truth not really a maze, since there was only one path, but there were some confusing turns that could turn the unwary wanderer about.

When I reached the center, I slumped down on the bench, arms resting on my thighs and my chin in my hands. I stared at the rosebushes and heaved a great sigh. It was then that I felt a tingling between my shoulder blades–you know the feeling, it's as if you're being watched. When I turned around, irritated at the intrusion upon my solitude, my heart leapt into my throat. There stood my beautiful Endymion, his face unmasked and those intense azure eyes boring into me.

I was so shocked to see him that I remained rooted to the bench.

"Well," he said, smiling broadly, "are you going to greet me, or are you going to stare at me with your mouth hanging open all day?" What a gorgeous smile he had! I don't think I had ever seen him smile like that, and I hoped he would do it more often.

I stood up, but when I moved to go to him, I tripped over the hem of my dress and would have fallen on my face at his feet if he hadn't moved to catch me with that fluid grace that came so easily to him. How I envied him that as my face burned with embarrassment. Instead of laughing at me, he pulled me close and tucked my head under his chin, stroking my hair with one hand and holding me close with the other. I snuggled against him, happy since he had leapt from my balcony the night before.

"How long will you stay this time?" I asked. "I would very much like to introduce you to my mother."

"I'm afraid I can't stay that long, love," he replied. Oh, that smooth velvet voice! It made me melt, and I hate him for it as I look back on it.

No, I don't hate him. Curse him for hurting me like this, rail at him for betraying me, yes, but hate him? Never. But again, I skip ahead, I apologize. To continue...

"Why can you not stay?" I asked him, pulling away from him. "Why are you always disappearing? Are you some villain, that you are afraid of revealing yourself to others?" Ah, there, the key words. If only I had known.

He took a step back, looking hurt, but I wasn't about to relent. My anger had been stirred by his evasiveness, and I wasn't about to let him get away with it.

"You think you can just pop in and out without warning regardless of my feelings? You act as if you _know _me, as if you know everything about me, but how could that possibly be? I had never seen you before the night of my coming-of-age ball. And you call me 'love' like we've been together for ages and–"

He put a hand over my mouth, cutting me off just when I was settling into my stride. "Shh," he said. "I understand what you're talking about, but you're getting awfully loud and someone is going to hear you and wonder who it is you're yelling at when I'm sure you were seen coming in here alone. I know that I've been treating you terribly, and you're right when you say that I act like I know you. If I take my hand off your mouth, will you be quiet and listen to me?" I nodded reluctantly, since it was quite obvious to me that I couldn't overpower him when he had by far the better leverage.

He took his hand off my mouth and moved away, sitting on the bench. I sat on the opposite end of him and waited as patiently as I could–which, I admit, wasn't very patiently at all. I never was good at the whole waiting game.

At least I didn't have long to wait.

"The reason that I act like I know you is because I've been watching you for some time," he finally confessed. "I've seen you train with the senshi, I've seen you hang out with them, I've seen you alone and I've seen you with your mother. I guess I just feel like I know you from watching all of those things, and the more I watched, the more I became enchanted by you. I couldn't help myself. I came in the first place to see what the moon princess was like–after all, you were a possible match for a marriage alliance–and I couldn't help but come back as often as I could to see you, to feel close to you without actually being close to you. You looked so beautiful, so unapproachable. I didn't think that I'd be able to catch your attention in the normal matter, so I planned out our first meeting–at your ball, and though I was invited as the prince of Earth, I decided to send the invitation back with a note that I couldn't come due to an Earth virus that might bring disaster among the Moon people if they were exposed to it. I know it sounds stupid, but Queen Serenity sent back a note with her condolences, so she appeared to have bought it. I came to the palace dressed as a servant a few days before the event so that I could learn my way around and figure the best place to make my entrance."

He shrugged rather sheepishly, unable to meet my gaze, and said then, "I guess you know everything from there."

A little puzzled, I believed him, even though some part of me must have known even then that there was some hole in the story, something that wasn't quite right. The more fool I for not thinking it through, though we dropped the subject and spent the afternoon talking to each other, learning every nook and cranny of each other's thoughts and lives.

Well, obviously not every nook and cranny. I obviously missed the part when he said, "Oh, and I serve Queen Beryl of the Negaverse, perhaps you've heard of her? She wants to take over this universe and make it like hers. I'm merely helping her get it by making one of the main defenses vulnerable to my charm."

Perhaps I wouldn't have listened even if he had told me. I was such a fool. But the worst is yet to come: the story of how I betrayed my truest friends and protectors and cost them their lives in the doing.


	4. Chapter Four

When he left me after that conversation, I felt much better than I had in days. He had promised that he would come back as soon as he possibly could, but he didn't want to meet my mother then either. He said that it was too soon, that we should focus on each other for a while first, and I foolishly agreed. Just before he left, he cupped my face in his hands and said he loved me, that nothing could possibly make him change his feelings toward me. I said much the same of him, and he smiled tenderly down at me, those gorgeous azure eyes swallowing me whole, and then he had brushed his lips lightly across mine. When I would have pulled him close to kiss him more, he put a finger to my lips, whispering, "Not now, love. I fear I would not be able to control myself this time." With that, he laid a pink rose at my feet whisked away.

"Now how does he do that?" I asked myself. It was beginning to get irritating. I picked up the rose and made my way out of the maze, much more cheerful than I had been when I went in. Almost immediately one of the stewards ran up to me and berated me for hiding when my mother wanted to speak with me. I thought it best to let him rant at me than try to explain that I would have been easily found had anyone remembered that I liked to go into the hedge maze when I wasn't feeling cheerful.

When we reached my mother's solarium, the steward went in first to present me and then scurried away. I never did understand why a servant needed to go in and say who was coming to see the queen when she knew perfectly well that it could only be me.

I made myself comfortable in a cushiony chair and greeted my mother happily.

"Well, someone's mood certainly has changed for the better since this morning," she commented.

I blushed.

"Darling, we need to talk about your recent behavior," she began sternly. "You've been mooning about lately, so much so that your senshi have left the moon entirely. Your instructors are so infuriated with you that I have had to give them a substantial pay raise in order to keep them around. They are the best in this solar system, Sere, and it took a lot to convince them to come here in the first place. Only the fact that they were also teaching Mercury kept them here in the first place, but with her gone, well...

"I would have talked to you about this sooner, but with all the troubles we're having with Earth at the moment..." She massaged her temples wearily.

Jumping on the change in topic, I asked, "What troubles with Earth?"

She smiled tiredly and said, "Well, you _will _be queen one day...I might as well let you in on it. The Earth prince seems to have disappeared about a month ago. The king and queen down there are very worried about him, and to make matters worse, the Earth's Generals have disappeared as well, taking several valuable items with them. No one is quite sure how it happened, but a theory has been going around that the Generals kidnaped Prince Endymion to use him as a ransom, but I don't feel quite right about that. If he had been kidnaped, wouldn't the king and queen have been notified of the terms for his safe return? No, something doesn't seem right." She stared at nothing, pulling at her lower lip–a thing I almost never saw her do, and the fact that she did it now meant that she was greatly concerned about this entire thing.

I could only sit and stare with my mouth hanging open, hearing that Endymion and his Generals had disappeared like that–and a month ago! I had just seen him today, and last night, why hadn't he gone home? A sneaking suspicion lurked in my brain, but I pushed it aside as ludicrous. He was merely in hiding from these villainous Generals is all, I told myself. He can't very well go home, because that would be the first thing they would expect him to do and they would be ready for him.

But why hadn't he told me this?

My train of thought was broken when my mother said, "That's why I'm so concerned about the stranger at your ball, dear. Nobody knows who he is, if he is involved with these Generals–or even if he's one of them. The way he disappeared before anyone could say anything...You will let me know, dear, if you see him again? If he tries to speak to you? It seems that if evil were to attempt to take over this solar system, they would want to target the main defense of it–namely you and the senshi. I would very much like it if you would convince the girls to come back, I feel very uneasy with you being so unprotected. Remember, a team of individuals committed to a cause can achieve what one alone may not be able to."

I nodded numbly, trying not to tell her everything about Endymion's appearances. He had, after all, asked me to keep it quiet for a while. Surely it was only to protect him from those Generals, I protested vehemently to myself, trying to justify the untruth. It was hard to lie to my mother, especially when I noticed that she was so frightened. There were wrinkles on her face that had not been there a week ago, I was sure of it, but because I loved Endymion I could not betray his secret even to ease my mother's fear.

Sighing and now feeling inexplicably miserable, I left the solarium to find some food. Lately, dinners hadn't been a large affair with all the overtime meetings and things, so it was generally up to me to get some food into my belly.

Remembering what my mother had said, I dialed my friends' wrist communicators and meekly begged them to come back to the moon and we would have dinner together. They agreed, seeming heartened by my humble request, and told me that they would be on the moon within the hour.

Excited to have some company, I ordered our favorite food from Earth–Chinese! Egg noodles and chow mein, lo mein, kung pao beef, chicken and pork, and of course the fried rice. The food got there shortly before the girls did, and I set it all up on the huge table in the grand dining hall of the palace, and when the girls arrived we all chowed down and talked and laughed like we used to. It was, all in all, a very relaxing evening, and when we were finished with our meal we watched sappy love stories and giggled, gossiping to each other.

When they had gone each to their own rooms for the night, I laid in bed wishing that I had told them all about Endymion. They were, after all, my team mates as well as my best friends. We were supposed to protect our sector of the universe together, but that could only be done if we all had all of the information. I told myself that I would tell them in the morning, but somehow I kept putting it off, thinking that there would be time to tell them. Then, of course, there was no more time, and my first betrayal of them was complete–all in the name of love.

Alas that this betrayal was not the only one.


	5. Chapter Five

Though I know that I am skipping over some events, I can feel that they're getting closer. Soon I will be found and nothing will be able to help me. I must finish this in hopes that my confessions will somehow reach someone! The candle wax lowers inexorably and I am in a frenzy, so I must tell the end now, of how I made my betrayal complete, and not merely to my friends, but to my mother as well.

* * *

When I woke up this fateful morning, I was in a good mood. I had the love of a beautiful prince, my friends were happy with me, and I had set my mother's mind at ease with my hard work at studying over the past week. It was a gorgeous morning, and I was happy to be alive as I twirled in front of the full-length mirror, admiring my new white satin gown. I thought for sure that he would come today, and I wanted to look my best. When a knock came on my door, I answered cheerfully, only to find a frightened servant girl standing before me. "Miss...your mother...you're needed in the audience hall," she stammered, her eyes darting back and forth as though she was looking for something to snatch her up in its jaws of a sudden.

Frowning, I dismissed her as I was perfectly able to find the audience hall myself–I did live here, after all–and wondered which council member it was that was in such a bad mood this morning as to so frighten the girl. I merely shrugged it off and was on my way. Along the way I ran into the girls, who wanted to have a morning training session. I agreed to go, but told them that I had been summoned to the audience hall and that it would have to wait until that had been taken care of.

We walked on together, chatting amiably amongst each other while skillfully navigating the confusing corridors. Not a one of us except Mars, perhaps, felt that "impending doom" the tragic heroes always seem to feel in the stories on the day that they die saving the world.

But then, I saved nothing on this dreadful day save myself–if only for a few hours.

When we reached the audience hall, there was no one standing guard to announce supplicants. Puzzled, I pushed the heavy doors open myself and when I saw my mother sitting serenely in her throne, was about to ask where they were when a tall man stepped out from behind the tall chair. His sword was unsheathed and stained red, but all this was forgotten when I saw who he was. My breath became trapped in my lungs and I stood perfectly still, staring in shock at my beloved prince.

My friends had come in behind me, wondering why I had stopped so suddenly, and under no such spell as I was, they quickly reacted. They were mere girls no longer, but senshi–sworn guardians of the queen and her heir. I hardly heard their speech against evil, Endymion's eyes encompassing my vision. How had I missed the darkness in them? Had I simply not wanted to see it? He wavered in my vision, and I realized that my eyes had welled up with tears, which were now spilling over my cheeks in a torrent.

Even now I struggle to continue writing, for I can hardly see the paper for the water clouding my vision.

When the senshi realized that I had not joined them in their vehement speech, they turned to stare at me in shock, for a moment the girls that they usually were. It was then that the gray-skinned woman with flaming orange hair stepped out from behind the throne where Endymion had been. She chuckled wickedly.

"Well done, my pet," she purred to Endymion, stepping close to him and caressing his chest before turning to us. "So, moon princess," she said mockingly, "you arrived in time to watch your mother die, and how nice of you to bring your so-called senshi with you! Now everyone I need to kill is in the same room! You're so thoughtful! Here I was worried that I would have to search everyone out." She snapped her fingers, and the missing Generals brushed past me and grabbed hold of one senshi each. I was the only one left untouched.

I finally found my voice. "Endymion...how could you do this?"

He smiled wickedly. "You were the one that wanted me to meet your mother. So here I am."

I closed my eyes, looking away from him.

"None of that, now," the orange-haired woman spoke. "I want you to watch what happens next, dear!"

I snapped my eyes open. "Who are you, anyway?" I spat.

"Why, how rude of me!" she exclaimed, bringing a hand to her breast in mock shock. "I am Queen Beryl of the Negaverse–and soon your pitiful little system shall be mine." Before I could recover from this seemingly ridiculous statement, she nodded to Endymion and he promptly plunged his blade into my mother's chest.

My breath was once more caught somewhere in my chest and I watched my mother's eyes widen in shock, her mouth falling open. He had good aim, for she stopped breathing after a few gasps, and a trickle of blood dripped from the corner of her mouth when her head fell to the side. He pulled his blade free, and the force of it sent my mother toppling from her throne onto the floor. It felt like I was stuck in some viscous liquid, I could barely move and sounds seemed so far away.

I heard screams as though they were echoing from the past and my head moved slowly to the girls, whom the Generals were proceeding to brutally hack apart. Numbly I watched until I heard a wicked laugh from that awful, demented woman who called herself queen.

Suddenly I was moving towards Beryl, my only thought to kill her, though whether it was more because she had ordered my mother killed or corrupted Endymion, I still cannot figure out. All I knew was that she needed killing, and I was going to do it, even though I had no weapon.

Then _he _moved in front of her, breaking my line of sight, and I froze seeing him defend her–_her!_ My numbness broke, and the pain washed over me, making me gasp for air. My mother, the queen, was dead; my friends and guardians, dead. Because I hesitated...because I didn't tell anyone about the visits from my prince, because I didn't eliminate the threat when it became clear that my prince was working for the forces of evil...It overwhelmed me and I did what I've always done when I was hurt–I ran from it.

* * *

So now I find myself in the present, hiding in an obscure closet of the palace writing my message by candlelight while evil takes over everything I have ever known. I have been betrayed by the one whom I was certain I would marry, and I have betrayed everyone I have known and loved, and several that I have never and will never meet.

I am worse than Beryl and her minions.

But hopefully I can find within myself the strength to do something...anything to stop evil from winning.

The flames are guttering, drowning in the pools of wax that have grown too deep and the wicks too short, and my confession is complete.

Alas, I am afraid that I have spent so much time on this in vain, for an idea has come to mind that will destroy the palace and all in it–not to mention these pages that have so painstakingly been written.

But it matters not.

For if what I now plan works, then I shall have been redeemed and the moon kingdom will be gone.

* * *

Alright, I've been trying not to do author's notes and ruin the flow of the story, but since this segment is finished, I feel like I can talk!

What do you guys all think? I would dearly love some feedback, and of course, the story is not ended, I will be updating shortly, but it won't be much longer–probably a chapter or two at most. Anyway, some reviews would be FANtastic! I would adore you all forever!


	6. The End

She slowly and quietly opened the closet door and poked her head out.

"You there! Who are you?" called one of Beryl's troops when he saw her.

She squealed in mock fright and ran off, hearing the man that had spoken tell his buddy to inform Beryl that the woman had appeared before taking off after her himself. She slowed down a bit to let him slightly catch up to her, and made for the nearest flight of stairs. As she passed more stunned guards, they made failed attempts to catch her and ended up leaving one man to show the way while the other chased her. She was getting quite the following as she careened down stairways, making her way to the lowest floor.

Briefly a thought entered her mind that she could fall and snap her neck, thereby ruining her plan and dying a coward. She giggled a little madly at this while holding at bay the anguish that would surely overwhelm her if she faltered even the slightest bit.

When she finally reached the floor of her destination, she flung herself down a small corridor and into a room and promptly locked the rather plain–if thick–door behind her. She backed away from the door warily as the soldiers began to pound on it, their shouted threats barely audible. Satisfied, she turned around and walked to the center of the dark room. When she began to get closer a silvery, pulsating light began to glow from an object floating above an approximately waist-high pedestal, lighting the room with its warm power.

Reaching the pedestal, her lips curled into a slight, if bitter, smile as she looked at the platinum scepter crowned with a moonstone lying on the pedestal's surface. She looked upon the most important artifact that existed on the moon–in the entire solar system!–and felt great sorrow. This was the queen's scepter, and would have passed to her in its own time had she not been so foolish. Now she was the queen, for whatever it was worth, and she reached out and picked the beautiful thing up. Immediately the precious metal warmed in her hands and the moonstone shone with a light that pulsed in time with the large moonstone that had first begun to light the room.

The crown jewels of the kingdom, hidden away in a seemingly non-descript room on the lowest floor of the palace.

They were hers. She closed her eyes, bringing the stone on the scepter to rest on her forehead, allowing it to send soothing calm through her body that was so tight with pain and regret. A few tears escaped as the forgiving light encompassed her in its warmth, acknowledged her as the new queen.

The queen that would destroy the kingdom and these precious objects to keep them from falling into Evil's hands.

They would be here soon, she hoped, and then it could all end.

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She never even noticed when it grew unnaturally quiet outside the room. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, the moonstone on the scepter glowing softly and still resting on her forehead, a peaceful expression on her lovely face.

When he broke the door and entered, he was struck by her beauty and how amazingly calm she seemed as she opened those big sapphire eyes of hers and lifted her gaze to his. Deep inside he felt a tug of affection where his heart was–had been, at least, before Beryl had appeared. She had been beautiful the first time he had seen her and was now impossibly radiant, the moonstones' brilliant glow limning her figure and making her appear to be an angel as she stood. Her hair flowed unbound past her knees in all it's silvery-blonde glory.

He stared dumbfounded, seeing her as though for the first time. The aura of wildness and self-consciousness had disappeared to be replaced by utter surety and knowledge, and he knew what she was going to do.

"No, Sere!" he gasped despite himself, his sword dropping uselessly from his hands. He couldn't touch such perfection, would not sully his hands with the death of something so pure, though he knew that they were both dead anyway.

She smiled serenely and her gaze slid smoothly from his to a spot over his shoulder.

"Beryl," she said softly, her voice filled with such power as to almost hurt him to hear it. The power of the queen, the power of knowing that death is imminent and peacefully accepted for the greater good. He had once been good, but his heart had been twisted to evil. In the face of her purity, he felt unclean and violated, unworthy of the love of this woman, unworthy of even daring to love her in return, if for these last few moments only.

If he had been able to tear his eyes away from the near-blinding image of the woman he had betrayed so utterly, he would have seen Beryl's skin blanch to an even sicklier shade of grey.

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She knew what was coming, and could do nothing to stop it. She had lost so unexpectedly. Who knew that the cowardly princess would have the courage to bring about the downfall of her own kingdom to save the solar system from Beryl's evil clutches? Snarling, she vanished from the room, quickly gathering up her Generals before the foolish girl actually went through with it.

All of her Generals save one, that is, and she knew with a pang of–what, regret?–that she had lost Endymion for good. She had to accept this loss, but when she rebuilt her army she would be back! She would not give this up so easily!

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When Beryl had vanished and the soldiers run off to try to escape in vain, she walked to him and he fell to his knees.

"Endymion," she whispered, laying a hand on the top of his head as he began to weep uncontrollably. "Endymion, you know why I must do this?"

He wrapped his arms around her legs, grieving the love that he was sure he had lost.

"Do you know?" she asked again.

He nodded against her thigh and she closed her eyes, allowing herself to feel a twinge of pain as she stroked her fingers through his hair as she had so wanted to do. Then she pulled herself from his grasp and turned her back to walk towards the hovering moonstone. He watched her through his tears as she raised the scepter above her head and brought it crashing down onto the glowing orb, causing both to shatter into a million pieces.

Just before the unleashed power exploded she turned back to him and mouthed, "My love..."

And then there was no more.

* * *

Alright, the story is finished...I don't know, I'm contemplating adding a mood-lightener, but I'm just not sure. We'll see. 

I read back through these chapters and noticed that I got myself all screwed up on tenses occasionally...and for that I apologize! I'll have to go back through and edit those, so it'll be easier to read.

Thanks much to Eternal Senshi, you have no idea how much I appreciate your reading my story, and I hope you liked it!

Now for a confession of my own...I know next to nothing about Sailor Moon. Heh. Saw a couple episodes and the movies years ago, but that's about it. Please let me know how I did!


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